TRIP REPORT PHOTOS
Parking along Cottonwood Canyon Road and preparing for the hike. Notice the umbrella which kept Stefan out of the sun:
John Leidel (left) returning to Death Valley for the first time since 2009 and Charlie (right) for the first time since 2007:
Our group heading up the gentle fan leading towards Canyon 1 and Canyon 2:
The two canyons split at the top of this fan once you enter into the wash:
Looking ahead into the depths of Canyon 2, which would be left for another trip and is still an undocumented canyon in the park:
Jered and Annie on their first trip to DV since 2006 joined us on the hike:
Here we have climbed down the bank off the fan and entered into the wash of Canyon 1:
Canyon 1 started out with several small boulder jams and we wondered how far we would be able to safely take Stefan:
High walls early on in Canyon 1:
Our group hikes through the narrow canyon:
Nice scenery as we head toward the beautiful rounded peak in the distance:
A triangular rock with a flat face off to the left:
Welcome back to Death Valley after a long absence, Jered and Annie. It was nice to have them back after a 7 year break:
Steve, Daria, and Stefan in the midst of Canyon 1:
The wash remained narrow with occasional boulders to work around:
A nice variety of colors and texture on the canyon walls:
As we kept the baby safe and secure by watching every step, we were usually at the back of the group:
A long straight section of Canyon 1 as we neared the middle area:
Another rock slab that stretches out above the canyon:
The next three pictures show more pretty scenery as we approached the gorge area:
Here we have arrived at the beginning of the gorge and 1st dry fall of the canyon:
Charlie, Steve, and Stefan at the base of the 1st dry fall:
A 2nd dry fall was just above the 1st one. This section had a series of dry falls to climb, most of them not too difficult:
Two pictures looking down on John Leidel as he began climbing through the gorge. John, Tobin, and Steve kept going while the rest of the group stayed down below:
The 3rd dry fall is quite beautiful. As a side note, I would not consider any of these dry falls to be major dry falls like what are found in Canyon 3:
Steve getting a picture next to the 3rd minor dry fall:
Up next, we ran into the 4th minor dry fall:
Steve climbing up and over one of the dry falls:
Spectacular angle looking up the canyon walls at the scenery:
Another short climbing section which is necessary to continue:
A close-up of what would be the 5th minor dry fall in the gorge:
After that short tough climb, we exited the gorge and the canyon opened up a bit:
First hint that colors are appearing on the rock surfaces:
Looking back at John coming out of the gorge:
At this spot, the canyon split, and I stayed in the main canyon which continued to the right:
Immediately, patterns of different colors appeared on the canyon walls:
I was soon immersed in a world of colors on both sides of the canyon and the canyon floor:
Moving through this section with amazing diagonal walls sloping down into the wash:
More patterns on the walls. Purple and green seemed to be dominant:
Turning a corner, this dry fall stunned me. Check out the colors on display, with red on the left and orange on the right:
Next up was a series of smaller dry falls:
Passing through a smooth narrow wash next to a sloped rock wall:
Focusing in once again on the colors, which are the highlight of Canyon 1:
And one final look at a pretty collage of colors on the rocks. The rocks on the lower part of the picture almost look like they could be a painting:
This 1st major dry fall marked the end of the hike through Canyon 1 for our group:
I did not attempt to climb or bypass this dry fall since the rest of the group was patiently waiting for us below the gorge:
View down and out of Canyon 1 from the high point during our hike:
